I examine the long-term mortality effects of an exogenous shock in alcohol availability using Census data, mortality data and data on distance to alcohol outlets. In 1969, Finland underwent significant changes in alcohol availability both via Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) and distribution...

A stylised fact in the development literature is that resource-constrained households in low-income countries invest very little in preventive healthcare. This paper investigates how the households trade off investment in their children's preventive healthcare during idiosyncratic shocks when...

There is currently a heated debate about making face masks compulsory in public spaces to contain COVID-19. A key concern is that such policies could lead to risk compensating behaviour and thereby undermine efforts to maintain social distancing and reduce mobility. We provide first evidence on...

Smoking bans have been widely implemented, despite mixed evidence on their effectiveness in reducing firsthand smoking. This paper provides novel insights into the dynamic impacts of smoking bans in the context of a large developing country, Brazil, that had more than 18.6 million regular...

This paper evaluates how sick pay mandates operate at the job level in the United States. Using the National Compensation Survey and difference-in-differences models, we estimate their impact on coverage rates, sick leave use, labor costs, and non-mandated fringe benefits. Sick pay mandates...

On July 13, 2020 a complete nation-wide ban was placed on the sale and transport of alcohol in South Africa. This paper evaluates the impact of this sudden and unexpected five-week alcohol prohibition on mortality due to unnatural causes. We find that the policy reduced the number of unnatural...

Willingness to vaccinate and test are critical in the COVID-19 pandemic. We study the effects of two measures to increase vaccination and testing: "choice architecture" and monetary compensations. Choice architecture has the goal of "nudging" people into a socially desired direction without...

This paper evaluates the impact of a sudden and unexpected nation-wide alcohol sales ban in South Africa. We find that this policy causally reduced injury-induced mortality in the country by at least 14% during the five weeks of the ban. We argue that this estimate constitutes a lower bound on...

Mindfulness-based meditation practices are becoming increasingly popular in Western societies, including in the business world and in education. While the scientific literature has largely documented the benefits of mindfulness meditation for mental health, little is still known about potential...

Over the past decades, the share of very young children in daycare has increased significantly in many OECD countries, including Germany. Despite the relevance of child health for child development and later life success, the effect of early daycare attendance on health has received little...